


Astounding X-Men, vol. 1 #003.1: Metamorphosis

by Murf1307



Series: Astounding X-Men! [4]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Beach Scene, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Fight Scene, M/M, POV Character of Color
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-28
Updated: 2016-07-28
Packaged: 2018-07-27 05:28:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7605325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murf1307/pseuds/Murf1307
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A 'missing scene' from AXM #003, 'We'll Always Have Cuba, Darling.'  Erik, desperate for safety, becomes his abuser, and Darwin becomes a leader.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Astounding X-Men, vol. 1 #003.1: Metamorphosis

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place during #003, ["We'll Always Have Cuba, Darling"](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7344187) and focuses on Darwin's part of the Beach Divorce.

 

 

Stepping out of the wrecked jet, Armando has the sinking suspicion that something is about to go terribly, horribly wrong.

The plan is good.  It's sound.  Get into the submarine, dismantle the nuclear reactor, or, if necessary, neutralize Shaw.  Get out fast, if they can.  Only last night they'd gone through it, for the nth time, and Armando knows they can count on the others to deal with Shaw's posse.

His role?  accompany Erik into the depths of the sub.  Shaw hadn't been able to kill him before, after all.

Worst comes to worst, he'll survive.

He won't like it, but he'll survive.

He follows Erik, who is _prowling_.  That's why he's worried.  He gets it, a little bit -- Shaw nearly _killed_  him, and he can only imagine what happened to Erik as a child.  But he knows that revenge isn't gonna do anything today, except maybe, _maybe_  make Shaw dead.

Armando's not even sure Shaw _can_  die.

And wouln't that be just the thing?  He can't die, can't be killed, anyway, and Shaw was the testing ground for that, and if they both can't die...

He doesn't want to think about the future.  Not today.

Inside the submarine, he exhales.  "You gonna stick to the plan, man?"

"Yes."

He's not lying, but Armando has the suspicion that it's not _the_  plan that Erik's gonna stick to.

He remembers the conversation he overheard, last night, when he was slipping out of the study to go find Alex.

" _Killing Shaw will not bring you peace._ "

" _Peace was never an option._ "

If Erik really believes that, this is about to go belly up _real_  fast.

Charles is plugged into Erik's head.  He can't get into Armando's still, so Armando hopes Charles can keep Erik solid and steady.

"He's not _in here, Charles_."

A little bit of silence, but Armando can hear something, the crackle of something.  Energy.  He's hyperaware of it, they way he's hyperaware of Alex's.

But Alex's energy doesn't have this slick sense of death.  Alex's energy is fire: brutal, yes, but _clean._

This energy lingers, hangs in the air.

Oh.  

"Hang on," he says to Erik.  "I can feel him."

" _Feel_  him?"  Erik looks at him doubtfully.  

"The energy.  It feels wrong.  Ever since he tried to kill me, I'm hyperaware of that shit, of energy.  And he's got some serious energy where he is, but it feels _wrong_."

"Nuclear," Erik murmurs.

Armando nods.  "Yeah.  C'mon, follow me."

They make it to the fireplace, and Armando _knows_  that what they're looking for is back there.  It's metal, so Erik makes short, methodical work of that.

And there's Shaw, and radioactive slick of the energy he's absorbing.  The man is making himself into the bomb, ready to start a damn nuclear war, just to get rid of humanity.  As if that would ever work the way he plans it to.

"I knew you'd come, Erik."

_And what am I, chopped liver?_

But then, this guy _was_  a Nazi, so maybe staying off his radar was a good thing.

"To _stop_  you, Shaw."

"You don't really want to do that."  Used car salesman smirk as he turns around.  It slips a little, when he sees Armando.  "And you -- I thought I'd killed you."

Armando shakes his head, just a little, wryly, and raises his eyebrows.  "Sorry.  I don't die for white people."

"Well, I suppose that means you're fit enough for the world I'm making."  Shaw's smirk is back full-force.

That's when Erik strikes, hard and fast.  It doesn't do shit, of course, and Shaw immediately throws him back against the mirrored panels of the little nuclear room.  

Armando lunges for the helmet, because if they can get Charles into _Shaw's_  head, they might be able to win this.

Shaw notices, though, and flings him back, too.

It goes on like that for a while, until Armando gets to the helmet, yanking it off of Shaw even as Shaw flings him into the wall.  

And then Charles must be in, because Shaw has frozen, one hand outstretched toward Erik.

Yeah, chopped liver is the thing to be here, Armando decides.

_This_  is where things start going tits up, though.

Twisted metal slams into Armando, pinning him to the wall, wrapping around his arms and legs and trapping him there.

The helmet floats, lands on Erik's head.

And, well, now they're alone.

This is very, very bad.

"You're right," Erik says to Shaw, almost nuzzling the man's outstretched hand.  "But it's not a world you deserve to see."

He steps back, just as Armando feels his own body starting to shift into gelatin -- or taffy, or something stretchy and almost liquid.  It's not a fun feeling, but he knows that the only way to end this without everything ending in disaster is to get out.

"Wenn ich bis drei zählen, werde ich die Münze bewegen."

Armando doesn't understand the words, but, as he slips his bonds, but he understands the rage and the movement, as a coin floats up to the front of Shaw's head.

Aw _shit._

Armando is just solid enough to slam Shaw out of the way, praying that Charles isn't going to lose control of him.

There's a moment, a beat of silence, as Erik meets his eyes.

"He tried to kill you."

"Yeah, I know.  But man, you do this, and he's killed _you_ , too."

And he's not entirely sure Charles is gonna survive that.  Armando knows both of them well enough, now, to suspect that he might not.

"I don't want to hurt you, Darwin."

Armando stays where he is, sprawled over the frozen Shaw, on his back.  "No, what you mean is that you _can't._ "

"You know what humans are like.  What they will try to do, especially to a man like you."

"Yeah, and they'll keep failing."  He's lived with what he is for long enough that it doesn't matter.  "If _I_  couldn't kill myself, neither can they."

Erik raises an eyebrow.  "Maybe.  But they _could_  kill Angel.  Or Alex, even, if they knew what he can do."

It's something he fears, for sure, but he's not going to let himself get manipulated today.  He can protect Alex and Angel himself, thank you very much; he doesn't have to make himself into a monster to do it.

"I don't need you," Armando says, firmly.  "So if you wanna do this, you're gonna have to get through me first."

And Erik does.  Punctures him like gelatin with a sharp piece of metal, and the world wavers.

Got the jump on him, and his body is back where it was when Shaw tried to kill him.  Gasping for air, he rips the pole out of his chest.  

He's too late, though.

The coin is in Shaw's head.  No saving him.

Now it's about stopping Erik.

He prays Charles can take this as he barrels into Erik, this time, tries to get the helmet off.  

Metal surrounds him, but this time, can't pierce him.  He looks down, and his body is made of black diamonds now, too hard to pierce or break.  

He starts ripping through the metal cocoon he's trapped in.

"You know this isn't gonna save you!"  He yells after Erik, who is already ripping open the sub, floating away.  "This isn't gonna save us!"

Erik shoves a pipe against his throat, pinning him inside the metal.

He can't breathe.  Soon, he doesn't need to.

He fights the metal, and it fights back.

Eventually, he wins.  His only thought is that he has to get out of here, has to stop Erik before he goes that step too far.

Erik's gonna get them all killed today, if he's not stopped.

They're not ready for a war, and Erik should know that.  After all the strategy they've put together, Erik should know they're not ready for the kind of war Erik is proposing.

He tears open the sub.  Light hits his face, burns his eyes a little.

There's no war, but today, here, he'll have to be a general.

And he just might be ready for that.

**Author's Note:**

> the german translates, roughly, to 'when i count to three, i will move the coin.'


End file.
